Twelve persons including six school children were killed and four others injured today when a speeding mini bus collided with an auto-rickshaw on National Highway 12 near Rajgarh district of Madhya Pradesh, police said.
"Eleven persons including four girls and a boy, in addition to six other people were killed on the spot after a bus and an auto collided about seven kilometers from Rajgarh," Rajgarh SP Himani Khanna told PTI.
Later, one more girl succumbed to injuries in the hospital taking the death toll to 12, she said.
The accident took place on the national highway between Rajgarh and Biora, which is about 120 kilometre from the state capital.
The children were returning from Rajgarh after appearing in an open school exam when the mishap took place. The private bus also overturned in the accident, Khanna said.
She said that four persons were injured in the accident. They were taken to district hospital and condition of one of them is stated to be critical.
According to the information, the accident occurred near Kishangarh culvert of the highway. The auto rickshaw was going from Rajgarh to Hirankhedi village while the mini bus was on its way from Kalipeeth to Rajgarh.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan expressed grief over the mishap and announced ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the kin of the deceased and Rs 10,000 to each of the injured.
Taking a serious of the incident, the state Home and Transport Minister Bhupendra Singh announced a probe into it which will be conducted by the additional transport commissioner.
The minister has directed the official to submit a report within 24 hours, an aide of Singh informed.
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Meanwhile, deceased have been identified as Kanshiram (50), Hazarilal (50), Pavan (19), Khushi Bai (13), Ram Babu (18), Lal Singh (40), Shakeela (15), Mangilal (18), Rodsingh (12), Sangita (12) Ayodhya (12) and the identity of the last one is not yet known, a police official said.
